Introduction
Forget about spending a few bucks; a marketer would be ready to sell his soul to get his hands on a well-targeted, reliable lead list. But the industry still has a frenzied craze for bagging lead lists without breaking the bank. This is especially true for beginners and small businesses who do not want to spend a fortune just to acquire a few worthy leads and are on a spree to find other legit ways of acquiring them, surpassing the fact that free lists are just a myth. So here we are to burst a few bubbles and present the ultimate list of strategies to acquire reliable yet free lead lists.
What are lead lists?
A lead list is a marketer's log of potential customers and their contact details. It is simply a data set of individuals who have expressed interest in a specific product. These contacts can be used to send emails or carry out telemarketing and convert them into actual customers. The quality of the lead list highly impacts your marketing and sales efforts.
So, what's the matter with free lead lists?
Buying Lead lists can be pretty expensive. This includes using lead generator tools. A lot of effort goes into curating a proper list; to acquire them, one must pay the right amount. Even then, there isn't any guarantee that the data you have procured is fully reliable and worth the hype. Until you have ransacked the authenticity of the entire list, you can't be sure enough. It gets worse with lists that come with a cheap price tag.
The data can be useless, have unmet legal standards, and makes you spend 60% more than a pricier/high-quality product (data quoted by Crunchbase).
Regardless of the money you pay, this unpredictability of quality makes beginners and small-timers resort to free lead list avenues. Good or not, at least there is no money spent. This has created a buzz around free lead lists, along with the belief that free is just a myth.
So let us decode it.
Free lead lists: Myth or Reality?
Nothing reliable comes for free these days. Yet you are hearing whispers regarding finding free lead lists and closed deals. Though it isn't completely a myth, the truth lies somewhere in between. There are good chances of curating a free lead list, but it has its fair share of challenges and drawbacks. One must knock on multiple doors, tap various sources and put steadfast efforts into building one. Even then, you will have to spend a penny or two to make a list that gives returns. Paid lists do offer well-targeted leads and comprehensive contact details, unlike the free list. However, there is no harm in making an attempt. Just ensure that your route aligns with your demands and business goals.
Strategies for building winning free lead lists in 2023
With every passing year, new strategies and techniques emerge, while some old ones lose a bit of their luster. What worked a decade ago might not work today. So, it is important to pick strategies that are highly relevant and trending. The following is a comprehensive cluster of strategies, both age-old and new, that is fit and relevant in 2023:
1. Feed on the faithful
Using your existing customers is always a trending trick. You must already own a list of faithful followers. Don't forget to use them. You have already won their trust, and you can use them to deviate more people your way. Call it referral sales or anything you want, but this certainly works. Put yourself in the buyer's shoes. Would you not prefer something recommended by an acquaintance over other products? Studies say that people generally buy products that friends and family recommend. The other way is to get your customers to give reviews and ratings on various platforms and share their experiences on their social handles by tagging your profile.
2. ICP based Channels
A business has to know its ICP (Ideal Customer Profile) to filter and find suitable leads.
This is a known fact. But most businesses forget to link ICP to the channels they are using to find leads. Your ICP directs you to channels that your target audience is active in. Focus on that specific channel. However, be open enough to root your business in all channels, small or big, to get the maximum out of social platforms.
Examples: Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, etc
3. User-Generated Content
Shortly known as UGC, it can help you find what customers are talking about, their concerns, and unsolved queries. User-generated content is found on platforms like Quora, Reddit, and other forums. Trap leads by being a part of their discussion and giving them answers. Try not to sound spammy. Give them simple and straightforward answers so they don't fret away. Keep them engaged and see them slip into your lead list.
4. Blogging and Guest Posting
Content Marketing and SEO might be the new pillars that you are looking for to prevent your business from crumbling. What never took off through your product site might work through informational sites. Build a blog page. Regularly publish SEO-friendly articles that interest your leads. Rehash and modify the content to suit other platforms like YouTube Videos, LinkedIn Posts, and Podcasts. This can be a definitive way to attract them to your product. It might seem like a long route, but it is still worth a try. The other way is to write articles for other blogs and guest postings to reach a wider audience. There are websites that publish niche-related articles. Pick the one that suits your niche, make sure they have a good readership, and pitch an article with a product promotion in disguise. This can do wonders if done right.
5. Offer a free service:
Fish some leads by giving them a free tool. Let them do some taste testing and experience the full-hand quality of your free tool. Build it enticing enough to make them switch to a premium/paid version. However, what we feel is most products fail here. They fail to understand where to tighten the loose. That is why users simply won't stick around to buy a premium version. Still, you can use their available contact information to send promotional emails to help them make a re-entry.
6. Provide Useful Resources
As an extension of the previous strategy, you can provide other useful resources to people. It could be a webinar, meetups, events, or a book launch. Some people might not need a product but will throw themselves at you for information. Such people can make good leads in the long run. Offer a free digital course or a book. The key is not to sound boring. Design a low-key soft tool that even your coldest lead would like to try. Balance its aspects to suit both tech-savvy and amateurs. This way, you can grab more leads.
7. Leverage on Partnerships
Your friend's friend is your friend too. It applies more than anywhere in businesses. Try to link up and collaborate with the biggies in your field. Tap their audience and source up leads. We are not encouraging lead lifting. Imagine a situation where tools A and B put together might elevate a buyer's experience. If you have tool A, collaborate with tool B market leader and optimize on such audience. That is the right way to do it.
8. Make use of Free Trials
Many bankable platforms, created to generate and connect with leads, offer a trial period. Use it to gather as many leads as possible. Do not go on a streak. Use one platform at a time to make the maximum out of it. Some products that offer awesome services are Clearbit, Zoominfo, and Sales Navigator by LinkedIn. Remember to cancel before the trial period ends.
9. Online Directories
Online Directories help people find you. Try to list your business in online directories. Though some directories offer services for a fee, some do it for free as well, at least with certain terms and conditions. The best option to get your business on Google is to use the Google Business Profile tool. It lets you create a business profile and list it on Google for free.
10. Take the Help of AI
With all the AI-related articles going rounds on tech news platforms squaring off to secure the headlines, we need not have to tell you how Artificial Intelligence has taken center stage by making human interference irrelevant. Though it hasn't succeeded that far and still needs a helping human hand, it is undeniably performing well.
Every new day AI is becoming more and more significant and relevant. Every now and then, we see people claiming to have achieved incredible business goals by using AI as their trusted partner. After the launch of ChatGPT, almost every tech giant, including Google, is trying to replicate a similar bot/ technology to remain relevant. So, make use of AI to source leads. Who knows, your business might make it to the headlines too!
Watch to learn the tested lead-generation tips
Third-party data providers for lead generation
ZoomInfo is a B2B data provider that offers access to a vast database of business contacts and company information. It provides detailed company and contact profiles, including job titles, email addresses, phone numbers, etc.
LeadGenius is a B2B data provider that offers access to a network of human researchers who gather and verify data on potential leads.
Ful.io: A much more recent alternative to the above tools in Ful.io. It provides valuable information and contacts and is here to rule the market for the foreseeable future.
It's important to evaluate data quality, accuracy, and pricing to determine which tool fits the best for your specific needs. Additionally, ensure the data provider complies with relevant data privacy and security regulations.
How to Nurture Your Lead List?
Lead list management isn't about quantity but about quality. Most people fall for lengthy lead list generators that compromise the quality of their data. Remember, people switch jobs, companies close down, and contacts go outdated. That is why a rather smaller, well-managed, up-to-date lead list is more winning than longer disorganized ones. Generating a lead list is not a 'find once and forget forever' function. It needs regular fixing and pruning. So here are some of the ways to maintain a prim and proper.
- Allot a slot in your worksheet that lets you spare time for cleaning and verifying your contacts. Keep your contact details updated.
- Keep your contacts stored in separate segments. You can layer them based on factors like industry, company role, or organization size. This way, you can personalize your pitches and aim them at the right set of audiences for better response.
- CRM tools are easily one of the proven ways to manage your lead lists. CRMs are often misunderstood as tools that store data, whereas they also track data interactions.
- Automate CRMs to sync with other third-party tools to play work more effectively for your sales teams. For instance, imagine you are using Salesforce as your CRM tool. It can easily be integrated with wiser platforms like LinkedIn Sales Navigator to produce better sales prospecting results.
- Follow up on the cold-calling activities you carry out. Executing one cold outreach and going back to slumber is not how marketing works. Following up on your contacts is important to warm them up and turn them into hot leads. A list of hot leads is the one that brings you closer to sealed deals.
- After the outreach and a decent follow-up, if a lead hesitates or refuses to engage, it is better to mark them as inactive and chuck them off of your lead list. Trust us; you are saving time, energy, and a lot of other resources by doing yourself this favor.
- Design a foolproof plan. If you want the right audience to engage at the right time, your outreach should arrest attention. Also, make sure to offer clear opt-in/out options to respect the freedom and privacy of your prospects. Simultaneously you are creating space for leads who are sure enough to stick with you.
- When you fail, you learn. Feel free to make a list that fails. This way, you learn how to build a good list. The key is to not quit and keep working on it until you figure out what works for your business.
Take a look at the best lead list scrapping tools
Conclusion
As we reach the end of our discussion, it is evident that lead lists are a marketers' lifeline. An ideal, well-researched, and curated list can help you achieve never before seen marketing success. Therefore, the time invested in investigating quality leads is worth all your efforts. Do not hesitate to use the right tools and strategies. Any tool/site that promises absolute free lead lists is going to take a toll on your healthy marketing efforts and might not deliver the targeted results. Instead, you could use a combination of the above money-saver strategies to grab a few qualified and targeted leads for starters. Remember always to go by the code, 'Quality over quantity!'
